HOSPITAL 



LEAVES AND LYRICS 



Messages of Comfort 



COIMPILED BY O. G. NIOCULLOCH 



-.3 



'To make a happy fireside clime 

To weans and wife, 
That's the true pathos and sublime 
Of human life." 



FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 

CHICAGO: I NEW YORK: 

148 AND 150 MADISON STREET 1 30 UNION SQUARE, EAST 

Publishers of Evangelical Literature. 






-f-^SBJsrii 






Entered According to Act of Congress, in the year 1S92, by 

C. G. Mc CULLOCH, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 

Ai-L Rights Reserved. 




PREFACE. 

This little Booklet has grown out of the 
" Flower and Leaflet Distribution," in the 
West-side Hospitals, Chicago. 

It is designed to put into enduring form 
such leaflets as are best to distribute, every 
week, among the sick. 

It is also intended to bring out something 
unique, for more general use, in Hospitals, 
Sanitariums, Prisons, and Church visitations. 

Very many clergymen of the city have 
contributed to its pages ; some authors of 
note have written original matter for the 
book. Publishers have authorized the use of 
matter for it, and numerous good men and 
women have made selections for it ; and all 
have had pleasant words for the " Shut-in " 
people whom the '* Hospital Leaves and 
Lyrics " is intended to visit. 

The copyright belongs to the compiler, and 
the profits of the publication will go to the 
''Flower and Leaflet" fund, or some kindred 
cause. 

" He gives but little, who gives but tears : 
He gives his best, who aids and cheers." 

C. G. Mc Culloch, 

Chicago^ June /, i8<^2. 

[3] 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

Alone with my Conscience 87 

A Little Child shall Lead Them 44 

All, All for Thee ... 43 

And is there, Lord, a Rest ... 13 

Away with the Breezes 5° 

A Little Bird I Am 90 

A Song for To-Day 7° 

A Dreary Place 84 

At Even, ere the Sun was Set ......... 85 

A Triolet 27 

Assured 37 

Blessed are They 36 

Be Patient . 19 

Benediction, The Closing 96 

Crossing the Bar 57 

Compensation 77 

Communion 61 

Courage 16 

Come, my Soul 91 

Every Day is a New Beginning 35 

Eventide 32 

Evening Thoughts 67 

Father, I Know 39 

From Winter to Spring 27 

God's Anvil 42 

Going Home 26 

[5] 



CONTENTS. 



God Watcheth my Steps 71 

Gold Dust from Bible 30 

Grass and Roses 12 

God's Gifts to Thee 94 

He Leadeth Me 31 

Hand in Hand with Angels 24 

Here, Lord, we Offer 8 

How Kind our Father's Voice 74 

He Leads Us On 55 

I Was a Wandering Sheep 40 

I Do not Ask that Life 32 

Is it not Wonderful 86 

In the Name of the Lord 18 

It is not Death to Die 14 

I Saw the Little Children 39 

I Am so Glad 66 

Isobel's Child 93 

Just as I Am 82 

Just be Glad 56 

Jesus, Our Leader 72 

Love for the Dead 29 

Like a Cradle Rocking 59 

Leave God to Order '54 

McCulloch, Oscar C 45 

Ministry 58 

My Work 22 

Message of a Rose 51 

Not Shut In 25 

Nature's Promise 21 

Nature's Prophecy 76 

Nearing Home , 52 

Nightfall 33 

One Sweetly Solemn Thought 38 

Only a Little Sparrow 34 



CONTENTS. 



O Little Maid lo 

One Thing We '11 Find on Looking Back 60 

Prophecies 75 

Queen of the May 49 

Quiet, Lord, my Froward Heart 60 

Still, Still with Thee 92 

Second Sight 53 

Sun of my Soul 23 

Song of the Silent One ii 

Soft the Dews of Evening Fall 73 

Somewhere 79 

Sweetly Sing the Love of Jesus 83 

Treasures of Heaven 41 

Tired 69 

The Hills of the Lord 47 

The Way of the World 17 

The Lord Knoweth 64 

To a Water-fowl 62 

The Two Talents 66 

Thanksgiving 63 

The Gate Called Beautiful 28 

The Guest 20 

The Nativity .15 

The Pennie ye Meant to Gi'e 94 

The Tone of Voice 89 

What Asks our Father 79 

When Those We Love 46 

We Sit beside the Lower Feast 65 

What can it Mean 9 

Whether there Many Be 68 

When on my Day of Life 95 

When Gath'ring Clouds 88 

Yet Onward 48 



8 hospital lea ves and l yrics. 

Here, Lord, we Offer to Thee. 

Here, Lord, we offer to Thee all that is 
fairest. 
Bloom from the garden, flowers from the 
field; 
Gifts from the stricken ones, knowing Thou 
carest 
More for the love than the wealth that we 
yield. 

Send, Lord, by these, to the sick and the 
dying ; 
Speak to their hearts by a message of 
peace ; 
Comfort the sad, who in weakness are lying ; 
Grant the departing a gentle release. 

Raise, Lord, to health again those who have 

sickness, 

Fair be their lives as the roses that bloom ; 

Give of Thy grace to the souls Thou hast 

quickened, 

Gladness for sorrow, brightness for gloom. 

We, Lord, must bloom and must wither ; 
We, like the blossoms, must fade and must 
die ; 
Gather us, Lord, to thy bosom forever. 

Grant us a place in Thy house in the sky. 

Wilson Blimt. 

C. G. Mc Culloch. 



MESSAGES OF COMFORT. 



What can it Mean ? 

What can it mean ? Is it aught to Him 
That the nights are long, and the days are 

dim ? 
Can He be touched by the griefs I bear, 
Which sadden the heart and whiten the hair ? 
About His throne are eternal calms, 
And strong, glad music and happy psalms, 
And bliss, unruffled by any strife — 
How can He care for my little life ? 

And yet I want Him to care for me 

While I live in this world where the sorrows 

be! 
When the lights die down from the path I 

take ; 
When strength is feeble, and friends forsake ; 
When love and music, that once did bless, 
Have left me to silence and loneliness, 
And my life song changes to silent prayers — 
Then my heart cries out for a God who cares. 

Let all who are sad take heart again, 
We are not alone in our hours of pain ; 
Our Father stooped from His throne above 
To soothe and quiet us with His love ; 
He leaves us not when the storm is high, 
And we have safety, for He is nigh ; 
Can it be trouble which He doth share ? 
Oh, .rest in peace, for the Lord will care ! 

Marianne Farningha^n, 

Selected by Rev, Henry Neil. 



10 HOSPITAL LEAVES AND LYRICS. 

O Little Maid, in your Rosebud 
Bower. 

O little maid, in your rosebud oower, 

Dreaming of growing old, 
Wishing youth always would linger, a flower. 

Never in haste to unfold ; 
Lift from the shadow your sunshiny head ! 
Growing old is nothing to dread ! 

O little maid in the rose-tree shade, 

See how its dry boughs shoot ! 
The green leaves fall, and the blossoms fade ; 

But youth is a living root. 
There are always buds in the old tree's heart. 
Ready at beckon of spring to start. 

O little maid, be never afraid 

That youth from your heart will go : 
Reach forth unto heaven, thro' shower and 
shade ; 
We are always young while we grow. 
Breathe out in a blessing your happy breath ; 
For love keeps the spirit from age and from 
death. Lttcy Larcom, 

Selected by Mrs. Ramoin. 



Build a little fence of trust 

Around TO-DAY ; 
Fill the space with loving work, 

And therein stay. 

Mrs. Butts. 



C. G. Mc Culloch. 



messages of comfort. \\ 

Song of the Silent One. 

It singeth low in every heart, 

We hear it each and all ; 
A song of those who answer not, 

However we may call. 
They throng the silence of the breast ; 

We see them as of yore, — 
The kind, the true, the brave, the sweet, 

Who walk with us no more. 

'Tis hard to take the burden up. 

When these have laid it down ; 
They brightened all the joy of life, 

They softened every frown. 
But, oh ! 't is good to think of them 

When we are troubled sore ; 
Thanks be to God, that such have been, 

Although they are no more. 

More homelike seems the vast unknown, 

Since they have entered there ; 
To follow them were not so hard. 

Wherever they may fare. 
They cannot be where God is not, 

On any sea or shore ; 
Whate'er betides, thy love abides. 

Our God forevermore. 

J. W. Chadwick. 

Contributed by author. 



12 hospital leaves and lyrics. 

Grass and Roses. 

I looked where the roses were blowing ; 

They stood among- grasses and reeds ; 
I said, ''Where such beauties are growing, 

Why suffer these paltry weeds ? " 

Weeping, the poor things faltered, 
" We have neither beauty nor bloom ; 

We are grass in the roses' garden, 
But our Master gives us this room. 

"The slaves of a generous Master, 
Borne from a world above. 
We came to this place in His wisdom — 
We stay to this hour from His love. 

"We have fed His humblest creatures, 
We have served him truly and long ; 
He gave no grace to our features ; 
We have neither color nor song ; 

" Yet He who has made the roses 
Placed us on the self-same sod ; 
He knows our reason for being — 
We are grass in the garden of God " 

Rev. James Freeman Clarke. 

Selected by Mrs. I. C. Sill /man. 



Something, my God, for Thee, 

That each day's setting sun may bring 

Some penitential offering ; 

In Thy dear name some kindness done ; 

To Thy dear love some wanderer won. 

Selection by Mrs. Eliza I'ates. 



messages of comfort. 13 

And is there, Lord, a Rest ? 

And is there. Lord, a rest 

For weary souls designed ? 

Where not a care shall stir the breast. 
Nor sorrow entrance find ? 

Is there a blissful home. 

Where kindred minds shall meet. 
And live, and love, nor ever roam 

From that serene retreat ? 

Are there bright, happy fields 

Where naught that blooms shall die ; 
Where each new scene fresh pleasure 
yields, 

And healthful breezes sigh ? 

Are there celestial streams, 

Where living waters glide, 

With murmurs sweet as angel dreams. 
And flowery banks beside ? 

My soul would thither tend, 

While toilsome years are given : 

Then let me, gracious God, ascend 
To sweet repose in heaven. 

Ray Palmer. 

Selected by S. E. Bridgman. 



14 hospital leaves and lyrics. 

It is not Death to Die. 
It is not death to die, 

To leave this weary road, 
And midst the brotherhood on high, 

To be at home with God. 
It is not death to close 

The eye long dimmed by tears. 
And wake in glorious repose, 

To spend eternal years. 
It is not death to bear 

The wrench that sets us free 
From dungeon chain, to breathe the air 

Of boundless liberty. 
It is not death to fling 

Aside this sinful dust, 
******** 

And live among the just. 
Jesus, Thou Prince of Life, 

Thy chosen cannot die ; 
Like Thee, they conquer in the strife, 

To reign with Thee on high. 

H. A. Malan. 

Selected by Rev. G. C. Shackle/ord. 



My God, I thank thee thou hast made 

The earth so bright. 
So full of splendor and of joy. 

Beauty and light ; 
So many noble things are here, 

Noble and right. 

Adelaide A. Proctor, 

C. G. Mc Culloch. 



messages of comfort. 15 

The Nativity. 

Calm on the listening ear of night, 
Come heaven's melodious strains, 

When wild Judea stretches far, 
Her silver-mantled plains. 

Celestial choirs, from courts above. 

Shed sacred glories there ; 
And angels, with their sparkling lyres, 

Make music on the air. 

The answering hills of Palestine 

Send back the glad reply. 
And greet, from all their holier heights. 

The day-spring from on high. 

O'er the blue depths of Galilee, 

There comes a holier calm ; 
And Sharon waves, in solemn praise. 

Her silent groves of palm. 

Light on thy hills, Jerusalem ; 

The Saviour now is born ; 
And bright, on Bethlehem's joyous plains. 

Breaks the first Christmas morn. 

E. H. Sears. 

Selected by Miss Content Pattersoti. 



Go, breathe it in the ear. 
Of all who doubt and fear. 
And say to them, '' Be of good cheer." 
H. W. Longfellow. 



C. G. Mc Odloch. 



1 6 hospital lea ves and l yrtcs. 

Courage. 

Give to the winds thy fears ! 

Hope, and be undismayed ; 
God hears thy sighs, and counts thy tears, 

He shall lift up thy head. 

Through waves and clouds and storms, 

He gently clears thy way ; 
Wait thou His time, so shall this night 

Soon end in joyous day. 

Commit thou all thy griefs 

And ways into His hands ; 
To His sure trust and tender care, 

Who earth and heaven commands. 

Who points the clouds their course, 
Whom wind and seas obey ; 

He shall direct thy wand'ring feet. 
He shall prepare thy way. 

Paul Gerhart. 

Selected by Fanny H. Gallagher. 



Life is good, and life is fair ; 
Love awaits thee anywhere : 
Love ! is love's immortal prayer. 

Bayard Taylor. 



Why should I hug life's ills with cold reserve 
To curse myself and all who love me } Nay, 

A thousand times more good than I deserve, 
God gives me every day. 

Mrs. Celia Thaxter. 

Selected by F. H. Revell. 



messages of comfort. 1 7 

The Way of the World. 

Laugh, and the world laughs with you ; 
Weep, and you weep alone ; 

For this brave old earth 

Must borrow its mirth ; 
It has troubles enough of its own. 

Sing, and the hills will answer ; 
Sigh, and ' t is lost on the air : 

The echoes rebound 

To a joyful sound, 
But shrink from voicing care. 

Be glad, and your friends are many ; 
Be sad, and you lose them all : 

There are none to decline 

Your nectared wine. 
But alone you must drink life's gall. 

Feast, and your halls are crowded ; 
Fast, and the world goes by : 

Succeed and give, 

And it helps you live. 
But it cannot help you die. 

There is room in the halls of pleasure 
For a long and lordly train ; 

But one by one 

We must all file on. 
Through the narrow aisles of pain. 

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, 

Selected by E. W. Gillette. 



18 hospital leaves amd lyrics. 

In the Name of the Lord. 

Who is this that cometh in the dear Lord's 

name ? 
Wan and drooping on his road, very faint and 

lame, 
Pale brow overshadowed, eyes all quenched 

and dim, — 
Is it Pain who cometh ? Did the Lord send 

hitn ? 

Who is this that cometh in the dear Lord's 

name ? 
Meeting- never praises, only tears and blame, 
Mourning veil to hide him, eyes which tears 

o'er-brim, — 
Is it Grief who cometh ? Did the Lord send 

him ? 

Who is this that cometh in the dear Lord's 

name ? 
In his strange and searching gaze burns a 

pallid flame. 
Mournful flowers crown his head, terrible and 

grim,— 
Is it Death who cometh ? Did the Lord send 

him ? 

Welcome Pain or Grief or Death, saying with 

glad acclaim, 
"Blessed be all who come to us in the dear 

Lord's name." 

Susan Coolidge. 

Selected by Alice M. Guernsey. 



messages of comfort. 19 

Be Patient. 

They are such tiny feet ! 

They have gone such a little way to meet 

The years which are required to break 

Their steps to evenness, and make 

Them go 

More sure and slow. 

They are such little hands ! 

Be kind — things are so new, and life but 

stands 
A step beyond the doorway. All around 
New day has found 

Such tempting things to shine upon ; and so 
The hands are tempted oft, you know. 

They are such fond, clear eyes. 

That widen to surprise 

At every turn ! They are so often held 

To sun or showers — showers soon dispelled 

By looking in our face ; 

Love asks, for such, much grace. 

They are such fair, frail gifts ! 
Uncertain as the rifts 
Of light that lie along the sky — 
They may not be here by and by. 
Give them not love, but more — above 
And harder — patience with the love. 

Selected by Miss Willard. 



20 hospital leaves and lyrics. 

The Guest. 

Speechless Sorrow sat with me, 
I was sighing wearily. 
Lamp and fire were out ; the rain 
Wildly beat the window-pane. 
In the dark we heard a knock, 
And a hand was on the lock ; 
One in waiting spoke to me, 
Saying sweetly, 
** I am come to sup with thee." 

All my room was dark and damp ; 

" Sorrow," said I, ** trim the lamp, 
Light the fire, and cheer thy face. 
Set the guest-chair in its place ; " 
And again I heard the knock ; 
In the dark I found the lock. 

" Enter ; I have turned the key ; 
Enter, stranger, 
Who art come to sup with me." 

Opening wide the door, he came, 
But I could not speak his name ; 
In the guest-chair took his place, 
But I could not see his face. 
When my cheerful fire was gleaming. 
And my little lamp was beaming. 
And the feast was spread for three, 

Lo ! my Master 
Was the Guest that supped with me. 

Hai'riet Mc Ewen KimbalL 

Selected by Chas. Ednad Cheny. 



MESSAGES OF COMFORT. 21 



Nature's Promise. 

The trees bore icicle fruit that day, 
The nests held blossoms of snow, 

And diamonds hung- in glittering- strings 
Where roses were wont to grow. 

'* And oh, for the daisies ! " a sad heart said, 
" Oh, for a clover bloom ! 
Oh, for a lily tall and sweet 

To shine in my darkened room ! " 

A boy ran singing after his kite, 
Fast held by the tugging twine — 
" 'T is winter to-day, but 'twill soon be May, 
For the sun has crossed the line." 

To the fainting heart the glad words came, 

Floating on frosty air, 
Bringing a vision of sunny fields 

And gardens sweet and fair ; 

Of lilacs tossing their royal plumes, 
Of the tulip's turbaned head ; 

Of jonquil's breaking a faded sheath 
To whiten the earth's brown bed ; 

Till life revived, and the sad heart said : 

" Let the season's hope be mine, 
Slowly my sun may be climbing 
The hither side of the line." 

Mrs. M. F. Butts, 

Selected by Mrs. L. S. Willis ton. 



22 hospital leaves and lyrics. 

My Work. 

I come to Thee, O Lord, for strength and 
patience 

To do Thy will ; 
Help me, O Father, in this world of duty, 
My place to fill. 

I may not go and labor in Thy vineyard, 
Where, through long hours. 

Brave men and women toil, and from Thy 
presses 

The red wine pours. 

My work, at home, lies with the olive 
branches, 

My field is there ; 
To train them fitly for the heavenly garden 

Needs all my care. 

I may not, in the woods and on the mountains. 

Seek Thy lost sheep ; 
At home, a tender little flock of lambkins, 

'T is mine to keep. 

Thou givest us, Thy servants, each our life- 
work ; 

No trumpet tone 
Shall tell the nations, in triumphant pealing. 
How mine was done. 

Mrs. M. P. Handy, 

Selected by Mrs, //. R. Wilson. 



messages of comfort. 23 

Sun of my Soul, Thou Saviour Dear. 

Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear. 
It is not night if Thou be near ; 
O may no earth-born cloud arise 
To hide Thee from thy servant's eyes. 

When the soft dews of kindly sleep 
My weary eyelids gently steep, 
Be my last thought, how sweet to rest 
Forever on my Saviour's breast. 

Abide with me from morn till eve, 
For without Thee I cannot live : 
Abide with me when night is nigh, 
For without Thee I dare not die. 

If some poor wandering child of Thine 
Has spurned to-day the voice divine. 
Now, Lord, the gracious word begin ; 
Let him no more lie down in sin. 

Come near and bless us when we wake, 
Ere through the world our way we take ; 
Till in the ocean of Thy love, 
We lose ourselves in heaven above. 

John Keble. 

Selected by Miss Van Swearingen. 



Let all who are sad take heart again ; 
We are not alone in our hours of pain ; 
Our Father stooped from his throne above, 
To soothe and quiet us v\ath His love. 

Mrs. Farni7igham, 

C. G. Mc Cullpch. 



24 hospital leaves and lyrics. 

Hand in Hand with Angels. 

Hand in hand with angels, 

Through the world we go ; 
Brighter eyes are on us, 

Than we blind ones know : 
Tenderer voices cheer us, 

Than we deaf will own ; 
Never, walking heavenward, 

Can we walk alone. 

Hand in hand with angels, 

Walking every day ; 
How the chain may lengthen, 

None of us can say ; 
But we know it reaches 

From earth's lowliest one, 
To the shining seraph 

Throned beyond the sun. 

Hand in hand with angels ! 

Blessed so to be ; 
Helped are all the helpers. 

Giving light, they see. 
He who aids another 

Strengthens more than one ; 
Sinking earth he grapples 

To the Great White Throne. 

Lucy Larconi, 

Selected by Anna P. Topliff. 



messages of comfort. 25 

Not Shut In. 
" Shut in ! " did you say, my sisters ? 

Oh, no ! Only led away 
Out of the dust and turmoil, 

The burden and heat of the day. 
Into the cool, green pastures. 

By the waters calm and still. 
Where I may lie down in quiet. 

And yield to my Father's will. 
Earth's ministering ones come round me, 

With faces kind and sweet, 
And we sit and learn together 

At the loving Saviour's feet ; 
And we talk of life's holy duties, 

Of the crosses that lie in the way, 
And they must go out and bear them, 

While I lie still and pray. 

I am not shut in, my sisters. 
For the four walls fade away, 

And my soul goes out in gladness. 
To bask in the glorious day. 

^ ^ -Jf -X- -X- 4f ^ 

Selected by Miss Emma Peck. 



Good bye, since you are gone. Old Year ! 

And my PAST LIFE, Good bye ! 
I shed no tear upon your bier. 

For it is well to die. 
New Year, your worst will be my best — 

What can old age want but rest } 

R, H. Stoddard, 



C. G, Mc Culloch, 



26 hospital leaves and lyrics. 

Going Home. 

Once past the gate, and there is no more 
sorrow, 

No tears, no pain ; 
No separation on some coming morroAv, 
No night again ! 

The summer-land lies just beyond the portal ; 

No heart has shared 
The beauty of that lovely land, immortal, 

For us prepared. 

There's One who holds the keys — at His 
commanding 

Gates open wide ; 
Completest love forevermore expanding, 

No woes betide. 

O homesick one ! art sad, or faint, or weary. 

The morning late } 
Fields of immortal jo}^ spread out before thee 

Beyond the gate ! 

Selected by Rev. John L. Withrmv. 



We have no tears Thou wilt not dry ; 

We have no wounds Thou wilt not heal ; 
No sorrows pierce our human hearts, 

That Thou, dear Saviour, dost not feel. 

Thy pity like the dew distils ; 

And Thy compassion, like the light. 
Our every morning over-fills, 

And crowns with stars our every night. 

C. G. Mc Czilloch. 



messages of comfort. 27 

From Winter to Spring. 
But yesterday, behind the crystal pane, 
I saw the lovely hyacinths abloom, 
Whose brilliant colors lighted up the gloom 
That draped the street, a-drop with dismal 

rain. 
To-day, I see their samite bells again, 
No longer shedding light as in a tomb ; 
But on the ambient air their sweet perfume 
Mocks not my charmed sense with promise 

vain. 
A hundred leagues of travel in the night 
Have wrought for me this transformation 

spell. 
And tossed me in the lap of beauteous 
Spring — 
While letters woo me for a further flight. 
Which of the rose and orange blossoms 

tell — 
And glittering glances of the oriole's wing. 
William C. Richards, 



A Triolet. 
I sing thee, love, a little song 

Where could I find a sweeter theme .? 

By day my thought, at night my dream, 
Gray Wisdom cannot deem it wrong. 
I sing thee, love, a little song 

Whose sweetness yet is only thine ; 

And for thy praise in every line — 
I sing thee, love, a little song. 

William C. Richards, 

Contributed by the author. 



28 hospital leaves and lyrics. 

The Gate Called Beautiful. 

Lame from our birth ; and daily we arc 

brought, 

And at the gate called Beautiful are laid ; 

Sometimes its wonder makes us free and glad ; 

Sometimes its grandeur makes us half 

afraid. 

This is the gate called Beautiful ; it swings 
To music sweeter than was heard that day 

When St. Cecilia, rapt in ecstasy, 

Heard through her trance the angelic 
roundelay. 

And, at this gate, not at wide intervals. 

Are we, lame from our birth, laid tenderly, 

But daily ; and not one day passes by 
That we look not upon this mystery. 

Gate of the Temple t surely it is that ! 

It opens not into vacuity ; 
For all its beauty, it is not so fair 

But that a greater beauty there can be ! 

Thy beauty, O my Father ! All is Thine ; 

But there is beauty in Thyself, from whence 
The beauty Thou hast made doth ever flow 

In streams of never-failing affluence. 

Thou art the Temple ! and though I am lame. 
Lame from my birth, and shall be till I 
die, — 
I enter through the Gate called Beautiful, 
And am alone with Thee, O Thou most 
High ! John W, Chadwick. 

Contributed by the author. 



messages of comfort. 29 

Love for the Dead. 

We all know something of the love of the 
living ; what it is to love, and to be loved. 
We know the love of home, of fathers and 
mothers and brothers and sisters ; the love 
of friends and neighbors, and the larger love 
of country, and the flag that floats above and 
protects all these treasures of the heart. 

We know, too, that the loves of earth live 
on through the years of youth and manhood ; 
are not weakened by distance or separation ; 
do not grow old with time. And we know, 
thank God ! that love is not quenched in death. 
All the impassioned love of our world for the 
living is poor and clouded and cold, com- 
pared with the changeless love that is cher- 
ished for the dead. Death is a beneficent 
angel ; it transfigures the love and beauty 
of earth into the idealized beauty and love 
of heaven. And all this sacred love of the 
living for the dead — pure and steady as the 
light of the stars — binds the two worlds to- 
gether ; for love says that the dead live ; 
they have died, but they are not dead ; and 
they love us with a depth and tenderness in- 
effable. And often from their unseen home 
they may come to look upon those they love ; 
and unseen by our mortal eyes, they may 
walk by our side, and watch by our beds in 
the hours of suffering. H. W. Thomas. 

Contributed by the author.. 



30 hospital leaves and lyrics. 

Gold Dust from the Bible. 

O, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is 
good, for his mercy endureth forever. Let 
the redeemed of the Lord say. It is good that 
a man should both hope and quietly wait for 
the salvation of the Lord, for he said, I will 
be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my 
sons and daughters. 

In the world ye shall have tribulation, but 
be of good cheer ; I have overcome the 
world. 

Call upon me in the day of trouble ; I will 
deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. 

Even to your old age, and even to hoary 
hairs will I carry you ; I will be with thee, I 
will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Weep 
not ; the Lord God will wipe away tears 
from all faces. 

As one whom his mother comforteth, so 
will I comfort you ; I will instruct thee, I 
will guide thee with mine eye, I will make 
darkness light before thee, and crooked things 
straight. 

Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen 
your heart ; he giveth power to the faint, and 
to them that have no might he increaseth 
strength. 

Lean not unto thine own understanding ; 
commit thy way unto the Lord ; blessed is 
the man that trusteth in him. 

Selected by Dr. Stehma?i. 



messages of comfort. 31 

He Leadeth Me. 

In pastures green ? — Not always ; sometimes 

He 
Who knoweth best, in kindness leadeth me 
In weary ways, where heavy shadows be. 

Out of the sunshine, warm and soft and bright, 

Out of the sunshine into darkest night ; 

I oft would faint with terror and with fright 

Only for this — I know He holds my hand ; 
So, whether in the green or desert land, 
I trust, although I may not understand. 

And by still waters } — No ; not always so ; 
Ofttimes the heavy tempests round me blow, 
And o 'er my soul the waves and billows go. 

But when the storm beats loudest, and I cry 
Aloud for help, the Master standeth by. 
And whispers to my soul, ** Lo, it is I." 

Above the tempest wild I hear Him say, 
"Beyond this darkness lies the perfect day ; 
In every path of thine I lead the way." 

So, where He leads me I can safely go ; 
And in the blest hereafter I shall know 
Why, in His wisdom, He hath led me so. 

Selected by Frances E. IVillard. 



32 HOSPITAL LEAVES AND LYRICS. 

I Do NOT Ask that Life May Be. 

I do not ask that life may be, 

O Lord, a pleasant road ; 
Nor that Thou wouldest take from me 

Aught of its weary load. 

I do not ask to understand 
My cup, — my way to see ; 

Let me in darkness feel Thy hand 
And simply follow Thee. 

Joy is like day, but peace divine 
May rule the quiet night ; 

Lead me till perfect day shall shine, 
O Lord, through peace to light. 

Adelaide Ann Procto7\ 

Selected by Mary F. Algire. 



Eventide. 

The babe, its white lids closed, afloat 
In dreams, swings light in its fairy boat, 
The flock returns to fold and rest, 
The low-voiced dove seeks now its nest. 
And I thy side. 

A zephyr fine, a first pale star, 
A fold my willing heart to bar, 
A nest no morn bids me depart — 
O Love, my perfect rest thou art. 
My eventide. 

Katharine E. Chapman. 

Contributed by the author. 



messages of comfort. 33 

Nightfall. 

Now God be with us, for the night is closing, 
The light and darkness are of His disposing ; 
And 'neath His shadow, here to rest we 
yield us : 

For He will shield us. 

Let evil thoughts and spirits flee before us ; 
Till morning cometh, watch, O Father, o 'er us ; 
In soul and body. Thou from harm defend us ; 
Thine angels tend us. 

Let pious thoughts be ours, when sleep o'er- 
takes us ; 

Our earliest thoughts be Thine, when morn- 
ing wakes us ; 

All sick and mourners, we to Thee commend 
them. 

Do Thou befriend them. 

We have no refuge, none on earth to aid us, 
But Thee, O Father, who thine own hast 

made us ; 
Keep us in life, forgive our sins, deliver 
Us, now and ever. 

Praise be to Thee, thro' Jesus our salvation, 
God, always good, the Ruler of creation. 
High throned, o'er all thine eye of mercy 
casting. 

Lord everlasting. 

C. Winkworth. 

Selected by Dr. Harriette Howe. 

3 



34 HOSPITAL LEAVES AND LYRICS. 



Only a Little Sparrow. 

Only a little sparrow, 

Counted of low degree, 
Taking no thought for the morrow. 

For the dear Lord careth for me ; 
He gave me a coat of feathers, 

'T is very plain I know. 
With never a speck of crimson. 

For 't was not made for show. 

Ihave no barn or storehouse, 

I neither sow nor reap ; 
God gives the sparrows their portion, 

But never a seed to keep. 
The seeds are sometimes scanty. 

But hunger makes them sweet ; 
I 've always enough to feed me, 

And life is more than meat. 



Though there are many sparrows 

All over the broad world found. 
Surely our Father knoweth 

If one of us falls to the ground ; 
And I fold my wings at twilight, 

Wherever I happen to be ; 
And he watches over my slumbers, 

And harm cannot come to me. 

Selected by Sarah W. Gzllctt. 



messages of comfort. 35 

Every Day is a New Beginning. 

Every day is a fresh beginning ; 

Every morn is the world made new ; 
You who are weary of sorrow and sinning, 

Here is a beautiful hope for you ; 

A hope for me and a hope for you. 

All the past things are past and over ; 
The tasks are done, and the tears are 
shed ; 
Yesterday's errors let yesterday cover ; 
Yesterday's wounds, which smarted and 
bled, [has shed. 

Are healed with the healing which night 

Yesterday now is a part of forever, 

Bound up in a sheaf which God holds 

tight. 

With glad days, and sad days, and bad days 

which never 

Shall visit us more with their bloom and 

their blight, [night. 

Their fullness of sunshine or sorrowful 

Every day is a fresh beginning : 
Listen, my soul, to the glad refrain. 

And spite of old sorrow and older sinning, 
And puzzles forecasted, and possible pain, 
Take heart with the day, and begin again. 

Susan Coolidre. 

Selected by Mrs. John A. Roche. 



36 hospital leaves and lyrics, 

Blessed Are They. 

To us across the ages borne, 

Comes the deep word the Master said : 
** Blessed are they that mourn, 
They shall be comforted ! " 

Strange mystery ! is it better, then, 
To weep and yearn and vainly call 

'Till peace is won from pain, 
Than not to grieve at all ? 

Yea, truly, though joy's note be sweet. 
Life does not thrill to joy alone ; 

The heart is incomplete 
That has no deeper tone. 

Who only scans the heavens by day. 

Their story but half reads, and mars ; 
Let him learn how to say, 
" The night is full of stars ! " 

We seek to know Thee more and more. 
Dear Lord, and count our sorrows blest. 

Since sorrow is the door 
Whereby thou enterest. 

Nor can our hearts so closely come 
To Thine, in any other place. 

As where, with anguish dumb, 
We faint in Thine embrace. 

R. W. Raymond. 

Selected by Dr, Lyman Abbott. 



messages of comfort. 37 

Assured. 

I long for household voices gone, 
For vanished smiles, I long ; 

But God hath led my dear ones on. 
And He can do no wrong. 

I know not what the future hath 

Of marvel or surprise, 
Assured alone that life and death 

His mercy underlies. 

And if my heart and flesh are weak 

To bear an untried pain, 
The bruised reed He will not break, 

But strengthen and sustain. 

And so beside the silent sea, 

I wait the muffled oar ; 
No harm from Him can come to me. 

On ocean or on shore. 

Johri G. Whit tier. 

Selected by Mrs. Jennie C. Vail. 



Little birds sit on the telegraph wires. 

And chitter, and flitter, and fold their wings : 

Little things light on the lines of our lives, — 

Hopes and joys and acts of to-day ; 
And we think for these the Lord contrives. 

Nor catch what the hidden lightnings say. 
Yet from end to end His meaning arrives. 

And His word runs underneath all the way. 
Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney. 

Selected by Miss M. E. Scates. 



38 hospital lea ves and l yrics. 

One Sweetly Solemn Thought. 

One sweetly solemn thought 
Comes to me o'er and o'er ; 

Nearer my home to-day, am I 
Than ever I 've been before ; 

Nearer my Father's house 
Where many mansions be, 

Nearer my Saviour's glorious throne. 
Nearer the crystal sea ; 

Nearer the bound of life. 

Where burdens are laid down ; 

Nearer to leave the heavy cross ; 
Nearer to gain the crown. 

But, lying dark between. 

Winding down through the night, 

There rolls the deep and unknown 
stream 
That leads at last to light. 

Father, perfect my trust ! 

Strengthen my power of faith ; 
Nor let me stand at last alone, 

Upon the shore of death. 

Phoebe Carey. 

Selected by Rev. F. E. Clark. 



As I was gathering violets in the snow, 
Methought how often, when the heart is low, 

And nature grieves. 
The buds of simple faith will meekly blow, 

' Neath frosted leaves. E. H. 

Selected by Mrs. Geo. H. Gilbert. 



MESSAGES OF COMFORT. 39 

Father, I Know that All my Life. 
Father, I know that all my life 

Is portioned out for me ; 
The changes that will surely come, 

I do not fear to see ; 
I ask Thee for a present mind, 

Intent on pleasing- Thee. 

I ask Thee for a thoughtful love, 
Through constant watching, wise. 

To meet the glad with joyful smiles. 
And wipe the weeping eyes ; 

A heart at leisure from itself, 
To soothe and sympathize. 

I ask Thee for the daily strength. 
To none that ask, denied ; 

A mind to blend with outward life. 
While keeping at Thy side ; 

Content to fill a little space 
If Thou be glorified. 

Anna Letitia Waring. 

Selected by Hannah Best, Burlington, la. 



I Saw the Little Children. 
I saw the little children round Thee press. 
Each in its turn receiving thy caress ; 
How tender was Thy touching of these 

flowers. 
The fairest things in this dark world of ours, 
And nearest heaven in their innocence. 

A. E. Haynard. 

Selected by Mrs. S. J. Wnhnighhy. 



40 HOSPITAL LEAVES AND LYRICS. 



I Was a Wandering Sheep. 

I was a wandering sheep, 

I did not love the fold ; 
I did not love my Shepherd's voice, 

I would not be controlled. 
I was a wayward child, 

I did not love my home ; 
I did not love my Father's voice, 

I loved afar to roam. 



The Shepherd sought His sheep, 

The Father sought His child. 
They followed me o'er vale and hill, 

O'er deserts waste and wild. 
They found me nigh to death, 

Famished, and faint, and lone ; 
They bound me with the bands of love ; 

They saved the wandering one. 

Jesus my Shepherd is, 

'T was He that loved my soul ; 
'Twas He that washed me in his blood, 

'T was He that made me whole. 
'T was He that sought the lost. 

That found the wandering sheep, 
'Twas He that brought me to the fold, 

'Tis He that still doth keep. 

Horatius Bonar, 

Selected by Martha Algire . 



MESSAGES OF COMFORT. 41 



Some of the Treasures of Heaven. 

What are the elements entering into the 
eternal enjoyment of God ? What are the 
pleasures which are forevermore abundant 
at God's right hand ? There is, first, the joy 
of being at home in our Father's house. At 
home ! At home ! Can you exhaust the 
sweet wonder of those words ? Gather into 
your mind all that home, in its ideal forms, 
has meant to your imagination on earth, and 
lift it to the eternal sphere. Home, my home ! 
The weary toiler thinks of it as a place of 
rest. The man -tired of life's battles flees to 
it for the peace which there broods like an 
angel of God. Amid the ugliness of human 
life, there is beauty. Amid the strifes of men, 
there is love, familiar, trusting, household love. 
A traveler comes home from a long journey 
on a night of storm. She is weary and has 
known sorrow while away. But from the dark- 
ness and the snow-drifts, she enters the one 
dearest house on the earth. Bright rooms, 
cheerful with warmth, receive her, and happy 
faces greet her, and love gives the welcome 
her wounded heart needs, and she thinks, as 
such a one said to me, ''that dying and going 
to heaven is like that." It is being at home 
with God. O the peace of it ! How many 
an anxious and tired mother, looking at her 
great family of children, has sighed, "O what 



42 HOSPITAL LEAVES AND LYRICS. 

a blessed relief if we were all safe in our 
Father's house ! " How sweet the thought 
of being in the Father's house, with all the 
familiarity which home implies, — a home in 
which the Lord God shall be the light bath- 
ing you eternally. John Henry Barroivs. 

Contributed by the author 



God's Anvil. 

Personal afflictions are God's pre-announcements as to who 
shall wear the crowns. May this selection for " Leaves and 
Lyrics " be blest to some furnace-tried one. 

Pain's furnace-heat within me quivers, 

God's breath upon the breath doth blow, 
And all my heart in anguish shivers, 
And trembles at the fiery glow : 
And yet I whisper, "As God will," 
And in his hottest fire, hold still. 

He comes and lays my heart, all heated, 

On the hard anvil, minded so 
Into His own fair shape to beat it. 

With his great hammer, blow on blow ; 
And yet I whisper, " As God will," 
And at his heaviest blows, hold still. 

He takes my softened heart and beats it ; 

The sparks fly off at every blow ; 
He turns it o'er and o'er and heats it. 
And lets it cool, and makes it glow ; 
And yet I whisper, "As God will," 
And in His mighty hand, hold still. 

Selected by Rev. E. P Goodwin. 



messages of comfort. 43 

All, All for Thee. 

" Unlo you it is given, in the behalf of Christ, not only to 
believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake." 

" All, all for Thee ! " O take me now en- 
tirely ! 
Retune each note with Thine own gentle 
hand ; 
I give myself afresh into Thy keeping, 
To do or suffer, as Thou shalt command. 

I give my heart, I long to love Thee better 
Than ever I have done in years before, 

That all I do may be a ''joy, not duty ; " 
Lord Jesus, grant it — may I love Thee 
more ! 

I give my will — O Master, do receive it ! 

It must rebel in any care but Thine ! 
I cannot keep it, it is so self-pleasing ; 

What rest to think it is no longer mine ! 

*'A11, all for Thee ! " Myself in all my weak- 
ness. 
Unfit, alone, the feeblest chord to raise. 
An instrument discordant, worn and worth- 
less. 
But ready to be used to sound Thy praise. 

O Master, by Thine own most Holy Spirit, 
Send heavenly music o'er the earth 
through me ! 
So true, so beautiful, so soul-refreshing. 
That those who hear it may learn more 
of Thee. Charlotte Murray. 

Selected by Mrs. E. P. Goodivin. 



44 HOSPITAL LEAVES AND LYRICS. 

A Little Child shall Lead Them. 

I thought her given a charge to me ; 

I took her with a trembling pride, 
Remembering what earth's dangers be, 
And asking on my bended knee, 

God's wisdom for my guide. 

I looked upon her innocence, 

Then forward thro' the coming years ; 
And thought my earth-experience 
Should shield her soul from all offense, 
And keep her eyes from tears. 

What solemn joy to lead her feet 

Through Life's bewildering, changeful 
land. 
To tell her all the sad and sweet. 
That makes Life's mystery complete, 
And lend her strength to stand. 

Ah, fond and foolish was my pride. 
And fond and foolish was my fear ; 

She had no need of earthly guide ; 

'Twas not for that she sought my side, 
And sojourned with me here. 

Not she my charge ; but rather, I 

To her bright guidance had been given ; 
She came Avithin my arms to lie. 
That she might know me by and by. 
Amid the throngs of heaven. 

R. W. Raymond. 

Selected by Mrs. S. Ives Curtiss. 



messages of comfort. 45 

Oscar C. Mc Culloch. 

(Sepulture^ Dec. 12^ iSgi.J 

What would best please our friend, in token of 
The sense of our great loss ? Our sighs and 

tears ? 
Nay, these he fought against through all his 
years, 
Heroically voicing high above 
Grief's ceaseless minor, moaning like a dove, 
The paean triumphant that the soldier hears. 
Scaling the walls of death, midst shouts and 
cheers, 
The old flag laughing in his eyes' last love. 

Nay, then, to pleasure him were it not meet 
To yield him bravely, as his fate arrives ? 

Drape him in radiant roses, head and feet, 
And be partakers, while his work survives. 

Of his fair fame, paying the tribute sweet 
To all humanity — our noblest lives. 

James Whitcomb Riley. 



Knights of the Round Table, bound 
To reach the heathen and uphold the Church, 
To ride abroad, redressing human wrongs. 
To speak no slander, nor listen to it, 
To lead sweet lives, in purest chastity, 
To teach high thought and amiable words. 
And courtliness, and the desire of fame, 
And love of truth, and all that makes a man. 

Tennyson. 

Selected by C. G. Mc Culloch. 



46 hospital leaves and lyrics. 

When Those we Love are Dead. 

When those we love are dead, — 
Though they have faithful been, and kind, and 

true, — 
They cannot hear our words of tardy praise, 
Nor see the flowers remorseful passion lays 
O'er their still hearts ; no whisper trembles 
through 
The silence of the dead. 

When those we love are dead. 
Their faults are all forgot and put aside, 
Their little frailties we forgive, and say, 
If they could walk beside us one more day, 
And be to us as if they had not died, 

Such tears we might not shed. 

If they again were here, 
How we would tell them of our love so true, 
And help them bear their burdens day by day. 
And often fair and fragrant flowers would lay 
In weary fingers ; ah, so much we 'd do 

To make their path less drear ! 

If friends are with us yet. 
Let us more patient be, and kind and sweet ; 
With words of cheer, and gifts, and thought- 
ful ways, 
Make glad and beautiful their passing days, 
So that, when marble stands at head and feet, 

Grief be not all regret. 

Selected by Dr. George E. Shipman, 



MESSAGES OF COMFORT. 47 



The Hills of the Lord. 

God plowed one day with an earthquake, 
And drove his furrows deep ! 

The huddling plains upstarted, 
The hills were all a-leap ! 

But that is the mountain's secret, 
Age-hidden in their breast ; 
"God's peace is everlasting," 

Are the dream-words of their rest. 

He hath made them the haunt of beauty, 
The home elect of His grace ; 

He spreadeth His mornings on them, 
His sunsets light their face. 

His winds bring messages to them, 
Wild storm-news from the main ; 

They sing it down to the valleys 
In the love-song of the rain. 

And lo, I have caught their secret. 

The beauty deeper than all. 
This faith, — that life's hard moments, 

When the jarring sorrows befall, 

Are but God, plowing his mountains ; 

And the mountains yet shall be 
The source of His grace and freshness, 

And His peace everlasting to me. 
Whitefield, i8yo. W. B. Gannet, 

Contributed by the atithor. 



48 HOSPITAL LEAVES AND LYRICS. 



Yet Onward. 

I thank Thee, Lord, for precious things 
Which Thou into my life hast brought ; 

More gratefully my spirit sings 
Its thanks for all I yet have not. 

How fair Thy world to me has been ! 

How dear the friends who breathe its 
air ! 
But who can guess what waits within 

Thine opening realms. Thy worlds more 
fair ? 

Dear voyagers, though each nearing oar 

Around, is music to my ear. 
Sweeter to hear, far on before, 

Some swifter boatman call, ** Good Cheer ! " 

At friendly shores, at peaceful isles, 
I touch, but may not long delay. 

Where Thy flushed East with mystery 
smiles, 
I steer into the unrisen day. 

For veils of hope before Thee dawn, 

For mists that hint the immortal coast, 

Hid in thy farthest, faintest dawn — 
My God, for these I thank Thee most. 

Lucy Larconi, 

Selected by Mrs. Ella J. Messinger. 



messages of comfort. 49 

Queen of the May. 

Day of the Crucified Lord's Resurrection ; 

Day that the Lord by His triumph hath 
made ; 
Day of Redemption's seal of perfection ; 

Day of the crown of His power displayed ; 
Beautiful Easter, dazzlingly bright ; 
Sun-Day that filleth all Sundays with light ! 

Queen of all festivals ; glad culmination 
Of the bright feasts that encircle the year, 

Glimpsing the Life in a transfiguration, 
That shall at length in its glory appear. 

Beautiful Easter, day in its hight ; 

Sun-Day that filleth all Sundays with light ! 

Banish the gloom in the house of the mourner, 
Keeping the vigil that sorrow compels ; 

Melt the cold walls of that prison forlorner 
Where unbelief in its solitude dwells ; 

Beautiful Easter, dazzlingly bright ; 

Sun-Day that filleth all Sundays with light ! 

He who redeemeth, consoleth, forgiveth. 

Who His own body raised up from the dead, 
Holdeth all evil in bondage and liveth, 

Source of all blessing, our Life and our 
Head,— 
It is His Glory that maketh thee bright, 
Sun-Day that filleth all Sundays with light ! 
Harriet Mc Ewen Kimball. 

Selected by Miss Mary Chamberlain. 

4 



50 HOSPITAL LEAVES AND LYRICS. 

Away and Away with the Breezes ! 

"Away and away with the breezes, 
At play with the young budding boughs, 
Tossing the plumes of the larches, 
Bending the green birchen arches. 
Telling the pine-trees that March is 
The maddest and gladdest carouse ! 

*' We '11 hie to the moss-mantled forest. 
And pinch every bud as we pass ; 
The leaflets will leap out to greet us. 
The crocuses spring up to meet us, 
The shy little daisies entreat us 
To kiss their pink lips thro' the grass. 

*' The hillsides are breaking in blossom. 

The daffodil romps on the lea, 

Her kirtle of gold she is sporting. 
While pretty red nettle goes courting ; 
And 'lords' their fair 'ladies' escorting 

Stand sceptered and stately to see." 

Selected by Mrs. H. F. Halle. 



Hark ! the lilies whisper 

Tenderly and low, 
" In our grace and beauty, 

See how fair we grow." 
Hark ! the roses speaking. 

Telling all abroad. 
Their sweet, wondrous story 

Of the love of God. 

Selected by C. G. Mc Culloch. 



messages of comfort. 51 

Message of a Rose. 

One day, going through the hospital, with 
flowers, I came to the cot of a woman, who 
was evidently dying. A patient little Norway 
woman, — for six weary months she had been 
wearing out, in silence and pain, until the 
end had now come. But all of her "best 
things " had long before been packed up, and 
sent on to heaven. I spoke to her, and took 
her hand, wishing to say some "last words ;" 
but she seemed not to know me, and I passed 
on to others. But on looking back, I saw 
her hand raised ; and I returned, and put a 
white rose into it. She slowly put it to her 
face, and the faintest expression of pleasure 
passed over her features. I said, " Good- 
bye " to the sweet Norwegian woman ; the 
glazed eyes could not speak, but the lips 
seemed to say, " Good-bye." Before morning^ 
she was with the angels. 

C. G. McCulloch. 



The weariest and forlornest day is blest 
At sight of any little common flower 

That warms her pallid fingers in the sun, 
And has no garment but her loveliness. 

Alice Carey, 



And 't is my faith that every flower 
Enjoys the air it breathes. 

Wordsworth, 

Selected by C. C, Mc Culloch. 



52 hospital leaves and lyrics. 

Nearing Home. 

" He is rapidly failing," — so smooth came the 

stroke 
Down the telegraph line. Thro' the silence 

it broke 
On a heart well inured to such crushes ere now ; 
And yet it was strange. That father whose 

brow 
Was held clear toward Heaven, and level to 

men, 
Through the storms that blew out of the three 

score and ten, 
Whose strength seemed perennial, like that 

of the pine, — 
"He is failing," — strange words down the 

telegraph line. 

Groans the train through the night, thro* city 
and land : 

The race is with Death, for the grasp of that 
hand. 

"Nearing home, — nearing home," sing the 
wheels as they fly : 

I, swift to the home that has drawn me for 
years, 

And he unto his, in the sphere beyond spheres : 

To the father on earth, through the gloom- 
gates of even ; 

To the Father above, through the pearl-gates 
of heaven. Chas. L. Thompson. 

Contributed by the author. 



messages of comfort. 53 

Second Sight. 

Beneath all form and rite and creed, 

Behind all hymn and litany, 
Beyond all outward word or deed 

My heart makes search, O Lord, for 
Thee. 

Unreal to my weary mind 

Thy very truths and sacraments. 

Unless in these Thyself I find. 

And find in Thee their inner sense. 

I sorely need Thee for my friend ; 

Without Thee all is loneliness ; 
Where but in Thee can wandering end, 

Who else can cure a soul's distress } 

Son of God and Son of Man ! 
Thou knowest what I cannot say. 

1 hold Thee fast as best I can ; 

Thrust not my feeble faith away. 

Forgive me that I cannot speak 

What once I thought so well I knew ! 

I only know my flesh is weak ; 
I only know that Thou art true. 

My willing spirit bends to Thee, 
And in the watches of my night. 

It is my sole security 

That what Thou orderest must be right. 
M. Woolsey Stryker. 

Contributed by the author. 



54 HOSPITAL LEA VES AND L YRICS. 



Leave God to Order All thy Ways. 

This is selected for " Leaves and Lyrics," because it was a 
life-long favorite of Rev. Oscar C, Mc CuUoch. 

Leave God to order all thy ways, 
And hope in Him, whate'er betide ; 

Thou 'It find Him in the evil days, 
An all-sufficient strength and guide. 

Who trusts in God's unchanging love, 

Builds on the Rock that naught can move. 

What can these anxious cares avail. 
These never-ceasing moans and sighs .'* 

What can it help us to bewail 
Each painful moment as it flies 'i 

Our cross and trials do but press 

The heavier for our bitterness. 

Only your restless heart keep still. 
And wait in cheerful hope, content 

To take whate'er His gracious will, 
His all-discerning love hath sent ; 

He knows when joyful hours are best ; 

He sends them as He sees it meet ; 
When thou hast borne its fiery test. 

And now art freed from all deceit. 
He comes to thee, all unaware, 
And makes thee own His loving care. 

George Newmark, 

Selected by C. G. Mc Culloch. 



messages of comfort. 55 

He Leads Us On. 

He leads us on 
By paths we did not know ; 
Upward He leads us, though our steps be 

slow, 
Though oft we faint and falter on the way, 
Though storms and darkness oft obscure the 
day, 
Yet, when the clouds are gone. 
We know He leads us on. 

He leads us on 

Through the unquiet years, 
Past all our dreamland hopes and fears, 
He guides our steps. Through all the tangled 

maze 
Of sin, of sorrow, and o'erclouded days. 

We know his will is done ; 

And still He leads us on. 

And He, at last, 
After the weary strife, — 
After the restless fever we call life, — 
After the dreariness, the aching pain, 
The wayward struggles which have passed in 
vain. 
After our toils are past, 
Will give us rest at last. 

Unknown. 

Selected by Mrs. Hugh M. Scott. 



56 HOSPITAL LEAVES AND LYRICS. 



Just be Glad. 

O heart of mine, we should n't 

Worry so ! 
What we Ve missed of calm we could n't 

Have, you know ! 
What we've met of stormy pain, 
And of sorrow's driving rain, 
We can better meet again 

If it blow. 

We have erred in that dark hour. 

We have known ; 
When the tears fell with the shower 

All alone — 
Were not shine and shower blent 
As the gracious Master meant } 
Let us temper our content 

With his own. 

For we know not every sorrow 

Can be sad ; 
So, forgetting all the sorrow 

We have had. 
Let us fold away our fears 
And put by our foolish tears. 
And through all the coming years 

Just be glad. 

James Whit comb Rile^. 

Selected by Mrs. E. W. Gillette. 



MESSAGES OF COMFORT. 57 

Crossing the Bar. 
Sunset and evening star 

And one clear call for me ! 
And may there be no mourning at the bar, 

When I put out to sea. 
But such a tide as moving seems asleep, 

Too full for sound and foam, 
When that which drew from out the 
boundless deep, 

Turns home again. 

Twilight and evening bell. 

And, after that, the dark : 
And may there be no sadness of farewell 

When I embark. 

For though, from out the bourne of Time 
and Place, 
The flood may bear me far, 
I hope to see my Pilot, face to face, 
When I have crossed the bar. 

Tennyson, 

Selected by Miss Ruth Fletcher, 



" Consider the lilies of the field : how they grow." 

— They do not toil : 
Contented with their allotted task, 
They do but grow ; they do not ask 
A richer lot, a higher sphere. 
But in their loveliness appear, 
hxi<^ grow, and smile, and do their best, 
And unto God they leave the rest. 

Marianne Farnins^ham, 

Selected by Mrs. A. B. Mead. ^ 



58 hospital leaves and lyrics. 

Ministry. 

Since service is the highest lot, 
And all are in one Body bound, 

In all the world the place is not 

Which may not with this bliss be 
crowned. 

The sufferer on the bed of pain 

Need not J^e laid aside from this ; 
But for each kindness gives again 
" This joy of doing kindnesses." 

The poorest may enrich the feast, 
Not one lives only to receive ; 

But renders through the hands of Christ 
Richer returns than man can give. 

The little child, in trustful glee, 

With love and gladness brimming o *er, 

Many a cup of ministry 

May for the weary veteran pour. 

This by the ministries of prayer. 

The loneliest life with blessings crowds, 

Can consecrate each petty care, 
Make angels' ladders out of clouds. 

Nor serve we only when we gird 
Our hearts for special ministry ; 

That creature best has ministered 
Which is what it was meant to be. 

Selected by Mrs. D. S. Hunger. 



MESSAGES OF COMFORT. 59 



Like a Cradle Rocking, Rocking. 

Like a cradle rocking, rocking. 

Silent, peaceful, to and fro. 
Like a mother's sweet looks dropping 

On the little face below. 
Hangs the green earth, swinging, turning, 

Jarless, noiseless, safe and slow : 
Falls the light of God's face bending 

Down and watching us below. 



And as feeble babes that suffer, 

Toss and cry and will not rest, 
Are the ones the tender mother 

Holds the closest, loves the best ; 
So when we are weak and wretched. 

By our sins weighed down, distressed. 
Then it is that God's great patience 

Holds the closest, loves the best. 

O, great heart of God ! whose loving 

Cannot hindered be, nor crossed. 
Will not weary, will not even 

In our death itself be lost, — 
Love divine ! of such great loving, 

Only mothers know the cost, — 
Cost of love, which all love passing. 

Gave a Son to save the lost. 

Saxe Holm. 

Selected by Mrs. C. H. Case. 



60 hospital leaves and lyrics. 

Quiet, Lord, my Froward Heart. 

Quiet, Lord, my froward heart. 
Make me teachable and mild. 

Upright, simple, free from art. 
Make me as a weaned child. 

From distrust and envy free. 

Pleased with all that pleaseth Thee. 

What Thou shalt to-day provide. 
Let me as a child receive ; 

What to-morrow may betide 
Calmly to thy wisdom leave ; 

'Tis enough that Thou wilt care ; 

Why should I the burden bear } 

As a little child relies 

On a care beyond his own. 

Knows he's neither strong nor wise, 
Fears to stir one step alone ; — 

Let me thus with Thee abide. 

As my Father, Guard, and Guide." 

Newton. 

Selected by Mrs. F. A. Noble. 



" One thing we'll find, on looking back 

On God's o'ershadowing care. 
And that is this, when we need help, 

He helps us where we are. 
He does not take from us the hurt, 

But makes the hurt His own, 
And comes to us and helps us bear 

What we can 't bear alone," 

Selected by C. G. Mc Culloch. 



messages of comfort. 61 

Communion. 

My child, it is not necessary to know 
much to please me — it is sufficient to love 
much. Speak to me as thou wouldst to a 
mother, if she drew thee near to her. 

Do not hesitate to ask me for blessings for 
the body and mind, for health, memory, and 
success. I can give all things, and I always 
give when blessings are needed to render 
souls more holy. 

To-day, what wilt thou have, my child } 
If thou knewest how I long to do thee good ! 
Hast thou plans that occupy thee } Lay them 
all before me. Do they concern thy voca- 
tion } What dost thou desire t Ask much, 
ask much. Ask for me — hast thou no zeal- 
ous thought for me } Dost thou not wish to 
do a little good to the souls of thy friends 
whom thou lovest and who have perhaps for- 
gotten me 1 

Hast thou promises to make to me } I can 
read the depths of thy heart. Thou knowest 
thou canst deceive men, but not God. Be, 
then, sincere. Bring me all thy failures and I 
will show thee the cause of them. Hast thou 
not troubles } O my child, tell them to me 
fully. Who has caused thee pain } Tell me 
all, and thou wilt finish by adding that thou 
wilt forget, and I will bless thee. 

Selected by Miss M. Ella Morgan. 



62 HOSPITAL LEAVES AND LYRICS. 

To A Waterfowl. 

Whither, midst falling dew, 
While glow the heavens with the last steps of 

day. 
Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou 
pursue 
Thy solitary way ? 

Vainly the fowler's eye 
Might mark thy distant flight to do Thee 

wrong, 
As darkly limned upon the crimson sky. 

Thy figure floats along. 

Seek'st thou the plashy brink 
Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide. 
Or where the rocking billows rise and sink 

On the chafed ocean side } 

There is a Power whose care 
Teaches thy way along that pathless coast, — 
The desert and illimitable air, — 

Lone wandering, but not lost. 

•5f -Jf -5^ -X- -Jf -Jf 

Thou'rt gone, the abyss of heaven 
Hath swallowed up thy form ; yet on my 

heart 
Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given, 
And shall not soon depart. 

William Cullen Bryant. 

Selected by Mrs. Prof, Boardinan. 



messages of comfort. 63 

Thanksgiving. 

For the earth and all its beauty ; 

The sky and all its light ; 
For the dim and soothing shadows 

That rest the dazzled sight ; 
For unfading fields and prairies, 

Where sense in vain has trod ; 
For the world's exhaustless beauty, 

I thank Thee, O my God. 

For an eye of inward seeing, 

A soul to know and love, 
For these common aspirations, 

That our high heirship prove ; 
For the hearts that bless each other 

Beneath Thy smite, Thy rod ; 
For the amaranth saved from Eden, 

I thank Thee, O my God. 

For the hidden Scroll, o'erwritten. 

With one dear name adored ; 
For the heavenly in the human ; 

The spirit in the Word ; 
For the tokens of Thy presence, 

Within, above, abroad ; 
For Thine own great gift of Being, 

I thank Thee, O my God. 

Lucy Larcom. 

Contributed by the atithor. 



Reputation is what men and women think 
of us ; character is what God and the angels 
know of us. 



64 hospital leaves and lyrics. 

The Lord Knoweth. 

The Lord knoweth 
When each hot tear floweth 
From eyes of those who suffer while they 
pray; 
He knows their sorrow, 
And in the glad to-morrow, 
Will wipe, in gentleness, will wipe these tears 
away. 

The Lord knoweth 

When the slow pulse showeth 

That we are drawing near to Jordan's strand ; 
When our heart faileth. 
Then His strength availeth, 

And brings us safely to the better land. 

The Lord knoweth ! 

If your faint heart troweth 
It is uncared for by its God above, 

Oh, doubt no longer. 

But in this be stronger, 
He knoweth all things, and His name is Love. 

G. Z. G. 

Selected by Mrs, Alice L. Williams, 



Some of your griefs you have cured, 

And the sharpest you still have survived, 

But what torments of pain you endured 
From evils that never arrived. 

Selected by C. G. Mc Culloch. 



MESSAGES OF COMFORT. A5 



We Sit beside the Lower Feast To-day. 

We sit beside the lower feast to-day, 

She, at the higher ; 
Our voices falter as we bend to pray : 

In the great Choir 
Of happy saints she sings, and does not tire. 

We break the bread of patience, and the wine 

Of tears we share ; 
She tastes the vintage of that glorious vine, 

Whose branches fair, 
Set for the healing of all nations are. 

I wonder is she sorry for our pain, 

Or if, grown wise, 
She wondering smiles, and counts them idle, 
vain, 

These heavy sighs, 
These longings for her face and happy eyes. 

Smile on then, darling, as God's will is best ; 

We lose our hold. 
Content to leave thee to the deeper rest. 

The safer fold — 
To joy's immortal youth, while we grow old ; 

Content the cold and wintry day to bear, 

The icy wave, 
And know thee in immortal summer there. 

Beyond the grave. 
Content to give thee to the Son that gave. 

Susan Cooltdp-e. 

Contributed by the author. 

5 



66 hospital lea ves and l yrics. 

The Two Talents. 

Since thou, dear Lord, hast not conferred on me 
Those larger gifts bestowed upon the few, 
Is there no work on earth for me to do ? 

Must I an idler in the vineyard be ? — 

Nayy Lordy if I to Thee woidd still be true. 

That which I cannot. Thou dost never ask ; 
All that I can, Thou ever wilt demand 
With promise, that in Thee I may command 

Strength for the day, and its appointed task : 
And yet y O Lord, Jiow oft I nej'veless stand. 

Quicken me, Lord ; help me to watch, to pray, 
That in the things committed to my care 
I may be faithful, both to do and bear ; 

And at Thy coming may I hear Thee say : 
Well done ; tJie less shall with tJie greater 
share. A. D. F. Randolph. 

Contributed by the author. 



I am so glad ! it is such rest to know 
That Thou hast ordered and appointed all. 
And wilt yet order and appoint my lot, 
For, though so much I cannot understand. 
And would not choose, has been, and yet 

may be. 
Thou choosest ! Thou performest ! Thou, 

my Lord, — 
This is enough for me. 

Mrs. F. R. Haver gal. 

Selected by Miss Lena J. Rloore. 



messages of comfort. 67 

Evening Thoughts. 

How far is it now to the city of gold, 

To the gate where the pilgrim his burden 
lays down, 
How long ere my eyes shall the vision behold 
Of the King on whose head resteth many a 
crown ? 

These shadows that follow the hastening sun 

Say the way is now shorter by far than 

before ; 

The leagues are but few that remain to be run, 

And thy footfall shall be on the amaranth 

shore. 

How sweet that some gleam of its beauty 
may fall 
O'er the soul of each homeward-bound 
traveler at eve, 
From fear every fearful one gently to call. 
And to drop its high calm into spirits that 
grieve. 

Make clearer my sight for the kingdoms un- 
seen. 
As the night thickens round me, O Jesus, 
my King; 
And peace, Thine own peace, with its rapture 
serene. 
Fill each soul seeking rest 'neath the good 
Father's wing. 

Mrs. Geo. H. Gilbert, 

Contributed by the author. 



68 hospital leaves and lyrics. 

Whether there Many Be, or Few. 
Whether there many be, or few, 
Elect the heavenly goal to win, 
Truly, I know not : this I know, 
That none who walk with footsteps slow, 
That none who fight with hearts untrue, 
That none who serve with service cold. 
The Eternal City can behold. 

Or enter in ! 
Whether there many be who thrive. 
In their vast suit for that vast love, 
Truly, I know not : this I know, 
That love lives not in outward show ; 
That but to seek, is not to strive ; 
That thankless praises, empty prayers, 
Can claim no bond, for will of theirs 

His court to move. 
How long the door, unfastened now. 
Shall open by His grace remain. 
Truly, I know not : this I know. 
If once that grace aside He throw, 
No tear, no sigh, no anguished vow, 
Gnashing of teeth, wringing of hands. 
Shall draw the bolts, and loose the bands 

Ever again. 

From Morning Thoughts. 

Selected by Mrs. F. M. Spooner. 



In nothing be anxious : but in everything 
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiv- 
ing, let your requests be made known unto God. 

C. G. Mc Culloch, 



messages of comfort. 69 

Tired. 

" So tired, so tired, my heart and I ! " — E. B. Browtiing. 

What though we 're tired, my heart and I ? 

It matters not, there's more to come ; 
We must h've on, we cannot die, — 

Must rise and gird our armor on. 

We must be strong, my heart and I, 
For heavy burdens weigh us down, 

They press so hard ; yet they must try 
To lift the cross who'd wear the crown. 

We must be brave, my heart and I — 
We have no time to give to tears 

For broken hopes, that ruined lie 
Along the pathway of the years. 

« 
We must look up, my heart and I, 

Straight on, where Faith and Hope are 

seen. 

With eager step and earnest eye. 

With steady trust and steadfast mien. 

Look up, not down ; look on, not back. 
And grasp the hand of faith secure, 

For '*not a good thing shall he lack" 

Who thus "through all things shall en- 
dure." 

"Tired out," you say ; nay, nay, not so ! 
For " as thy day thy strength shall be," 
And He who bids you "rise and go," 
Has also said, " Come, follow me ! " 

Selected by Miss Harriet Frame. 



70 HOSPITAL LEAVES AND LYRICS. 



A Song for To-day. 

Groweth the morning from gray to gold ; 

Up, my heart, and greet the sun ! 
Yesterday's cares are a tale that is told. 

Yesterday's tasks are a work that is done. 

Yesterday's failures are all forgot, 
Buried beneath the billows of sleep ; 

Yesterday's burdens are as they were not. 
Lay them low in the soundless deep ! 

Share thy crust and ask no dole ; 

Offer the cup thou wouldst never drain ; 
Only he who saveth his soul, 

Loseth all that he fain would gain. 

Smile with him who has gained his desire ; 

Smile the gladder if at thy cost — 
It was his to win and thine to aspire, 

It is his to-day that loved the most. 

Pluck the flower that blooms at thy door, 
Cherish the love that the day may send ; 

Cometh an hour when all thy store 

Vainly were offered for flower or friend. 

Gratefully take that which life offcreth, 
Looking to heaven nor seeking reward, 

So shalt thou find, come life, come death. 

Earth and the sky are in sweet accord. 

Louise Manning Hodgkins. 

Contributed by the author. Sunday-School Times- 



MESSAGES OE COMFORT. 71 



God Watcheth my Steps. 

God watcheth my steps, and guardeth my 
way, 

Defends me from ills that chance to assail, 
Keeps vigil by night, gives counsel by day, 

With patience and love that never can fail. 

Chorjis: 

I am safe in His care. 

While He standeth near ; 
While God watcheth o'er me, 

Nevermore need I fear 

In hours filled with hope, in days that are 
light, 

He adds to my peace. He deepens my joys, 
And in every path that is sunny and bright, 

I 'm held by His hand, I 'm led by His voice. 

In sorrow and trial, in darkness and shade, 
In days without hope, in hours that are sad, 

He draweth anear. He renders me aid, 

He comforts my griefs. He maketh me glad. 

When distant from friends, and exiled from 
home. 

His presence I feel, at sea and on land ; 
When o'er the wide world a stranger I roam, 

I find him a friend — I cling to His hand. 

Selected by Miss Emma Dyen. 



72 hospital leaves and lyrics. 

Jesus our Leader. 

Feeble, helpless, how shall I 
Learn to live, and learn to die ? 
Who, O God, my guide shall be ? 
Who shall lead thy child to thee ? 

Blessed Father ! gracious One, 
Thou hast sent thy holy Son ; 
He will give the light I need ; 
He my trembling steps will lead. 

Through this world, uncertain, dim, 
Let me ever lean on Him : 
From his precepts wisdom draw. 
Make his life my solemn law. 

Thus in deed and thought and word, 
Led by Jesus Christ the Lord, 
In my weakness, thus shall I 
Learn to live, and learn to die. 

Learn to live in peace and love, 
Like the perfect ones above ; 
Learn to die without a fear. 
Feeling thee, my Father, near. 

Willi mn Henry Fumes s. 

Selected by Mrs. Prof. Wilcox. 



The woe to come, the woe that's gone ; 

Philosophy thinks calmly on ; 

But show me the philosopher 

Who calmly bears the woes that are. 

C. G. Mc Culloch. 



messages of comfort. 73 

Soft the Dews of Evening Fall. 

Soft the dews of evening fall, 
Twilight with its friendly pall, 
Folds about earth's beating heart, 
Bids the weary day depart. 
Through the cool and darkling air, 
Father, hear our evening prayer. 

All the long, bright, busy day, 
Toil has worn our strength away ; 
Trembling limbs and furrowed brow. 
At the mercy seat we bow. 
Thou canst lift each weight of care. 
Father, hear our evening prayer. 

We are faint ! Temptations strong. 
In a vast and rapid throng, 
Oft our sinking souls assail, 
Let them not, O Lord, prevail. 
Be our guard in every snare, 
Father, hear our evening prayer. 

Keep us 'till morn's rosy gleam 
Wakens us from happy dream ; 
Give us daily strength and peace, 
'Till life's days and nights shall cease. 
Then, Thy final rest to share, 
Father, hear our evening prayer. 

Virgin ia Terh une. 

Selected by Mrs. E. P. Rice. 

•'And in the night-time, it shall be light." 
Bible. 

C. G. Mc Culloch. 



74 HOSPITAL LEA VES AND L YRICS. 

How Kind our Father's Voice. 

How kind our Father's voice ! 

All may draw near in prayer : 
Cast down their burden at His feet, 

And meekly leave it there. 

His wisdom orders all, 

His power not less controls ; 

His love makes all things work for good, 
To trusting, loving souls." 

Sorrows and fears and cares. 
But waste the heart and mind ; 

While they who humbly rest in God, 
Both strength and comfort find. 

He grants their spirits peace, 
And so He gives them power ; 

For still with peace comes mighty love, 
Our greatest, holiest dower. 

O hear then, all, His voice ; 

Draw near with praise and prayer ; 
Cast down your burden at His feet, 

And meekly leave it there. 

Tho7nas Davis. 

Selected by Mrs. Frank Clark. 



There is no day so dark 
But thro' the murk, some ray of hope may steal, 
Some blessed touch from Heaven that we 
might feel, 

If we but choose to mark. 

Celia Thaxter. 

Selected by Mrs. Charles W. Ear II. 



messages of comfort. 75 

Prophecies. 

Sometime you will look back to these bright 
days 

With tearful eyes, 
And think of all our quiet, happy ways 

With sobs and sighs. 
You will remember how we read or talked 

In this dear room ; 
Or, summer evenings, how we rode or walked 

Through fragrant gloom. 

Sometimes alone, or in the busy throng 

Again will ring. 
Soft, clear, and sweet, an echo of some song 

We used to sing ; 
And oft, awake or sleeping, you '11 recall 

This cozy room — 
Books, music, e 'en the pictures on the wall 

And flowers in bloom. 

You will remember every tender word 

You 've said to me. 
The knowledge that you 've spoken no harsh 
word 

Will comfort thee. 
Sometime you '11 weep and pray, but all in 
vain — 

As far you roam. 
For one short hour to rest from grief and pain 
In this sweet home. 

Selected by Miss Harriet Kingsley. 



76 hospital leaves and lyrics. 

Nature's Prophecy. 

I have seen the rose in its beauty ; 

I returned — it was dying upon its stalk, 

And the grace of the form of it was gone. 

I looked again ; it had sprung forth 

afresh ; 
The stem was crowned with new buds, 
And the sweetness thereof filled the air. 

I have seen the sun set in the west, 

And gloom and darkness brooded around ; 

There was no color, nor shape, nor music. 

I looked ; the sun looks forth again from 

the east, 
The lark rose to meet him from her low 

nest, 
And the shades of darkness fled away. 

I have seen the insect spinning its tomb ; 

It was shrouded in its silken cone, 

And lay without shape or power to move. 

I looked again : it had burst its tomb ; 
It rejoiced in its new being. 
And sailed on colored wings through the 
soft air. 

Shall the rose bloom anew, and shall Man 

perish "i 
Shall affection sleep in the ground. 
And the light of wisdom be quenched in the 

dust } 

Selected by Miss Anna Taylor. 



MESSAGES OF COMFORT. 77 



Compensation. 
She folded up the worn and mended frock, 
And smoothed it tenderly upon her knee, 
Then through the soft web of a wee red sock 
She wove the bright wool, musing thought- 
fully, 

" Can this be all ? The great world is so fair, 
I hunger for its green and pleasant ways, 

A cripple prisoned in her restless chair. 

Looks from her window with a wistful gaze. 

"The fruits I cannot reach are red and sweet, 

The paths forbidden are both green and 
wide ; 
O God ! there is no boon to helpless feet, 

So altogether sweet a path denied. 
Home is most fair ; bright are my household 
fires, 

And children are a gift without alloy ; 
But who would bound the field of her desires 

By the prim hedges of mere fireside joy .? 

" I can but weave a faint thread to and fro 

Making a frail woof in a baby's sock ; 
Into the world's sweet tumult I would go. 
At its strong gates my trembling hand would 
knock." 
Just then the children came, the father, too, 

Their eager faces lit the twilight gloom, 
" Dear heart," he whispered, as he nearer drew, 
" How sweet it is within this little room ! 



78 HOSPITAL LEAVES AND LYRICS. 

* -x- -x- -Jf ^ -X- -j^ 

*' Tell mc, dear one, who is so safe as I ? 

Home is the pasture where my soul may feed> 
This room a paradise has grown to be, 

And only where these patient feet shall lead 
Can it be home for these dear ones and me." 

He touched with reverent hand the helpless 
feet, 

The children crowded close and kissed her 
hair. 
" Our mother is so good and kind and sweet, 

There's not another like her anywhere ! " 
The baby in her low bed opened wide 

The soft blue flowers of her timid eyes, 
And viewed the group about the cradle side 

With smiles of glad and innocent surprise. 

The mother drew the baby to her knee, 

And smiling said : " The stars shine soft 
to-night ; 

My world is fair ; the hedges sweet to me, 
And whatsoever is, dear Lord, is right." 

Selected by Mrs. Prof. Fiskc . 



Every phase of human sorrow fills the path 

we tread to-day ; 
Harps are hanging on the willows, souls are 

fainting by the way ; 
But there still is balm in Gilead, though here 

on earth we weep ; 
God, within the many mansions, giveth his 

beloved sleep. 

Selected by C. C. Mc Culloch. 



MESSAGES OF COMFORT. 71) 

What asks our Father of His children, save 
Justice and mercy and humility, — 

A reasonable service of good deeds ; 

Pure living, tenderness to human needs. 
Reverence, and trust, and prayer for light to 

see 
The Master's footprints in our daily ways ? 

No knotted scourge, nor sacrificial knife. 

But the calm beauty of an ordered life. 
Whose every breathing is unworded praise. 

John G. Whit tier. 

Selected by C. G. Mc Ciilloch. 



Somewhere. 

'T is always morning somewhere, little heart ; 

Somewhere the sky is ever fair and blue. 
No night can wrap in darkness all the world. 

Some rift the sun is ever shining through. 

There 's always happiness somewhere, sad 
heart ; 
Somewhere is always love and hope and 
cheer. 
No sorrow can forever hide God's smile. 
No life is toil and grief from birth to bier. 

Look up and bide with patience then, dear 
heart ; 
The sacred promise of the dawn is true. 
Beyond the cloud a glad new day shall rise, 
And what of joy is yours will come to you. 
Jessie C. Glasier. 

Selected by Mrs. E. P. Goodwin. 



80 HOSPITAL LEAVES AND LYRICS. 



God's Gifts to Thee. 

Our Heavenly Father's gift to thee 
Is this fair world from sky to sea ; 
Where Spring, with magic touch unseen. 
Clothes the earth with robe of green ; 
And the laughing brook by her touch is free 
From Winter's ice-bound captivity. 

And whether we walk by singing stream, 
Or in forests clad in emerald green, 
Or turn to the fields of waving grain, 
Our hearts break forth in glad refrain ; 
And we sing all day, where'er we go, 
" Praise God from whom all blessing flow ! " 

And this dear Land, with beauty fraught, 
Has held for each some hallowed spot. 
Where hearts aglow with faith and love, 
Mirrored the Heavenly home above ; 
Sweet fellowships of love and thought, 
Beside which all things else are naught. 

But even this is smallest part 

Of all the gifts of God's great heart. 

For us He gave His only Son, 

That hearts to Him might all be won. 

This love divine, so rich and free. 

Is God's best gift to thee and me. 

Mrs. C. W. Earle. 

Contributed by the author. 



MESSAGES OF COMFORT. 81 

I would not have the restless will, 

That hurries to and fro, 
Seeking for some great thing to do, 

Or secret thing to know ; 
I would be dealt with as a child. 

And guided where to go. 

Miss A. L. Waring. 



The lives which seem so poor, so low, 

The hearts which are so cramped and dull, 
The baffled hopes, the impulse slow, 
Thou takest, touchest all, and lo ! 
They blossom to the beautiful. 

Susan Coolidge, 



I ask Thee for a thoughtful love. 
Through constant watching, wise. 

To meet the glad with joyful smiles. 
And wipe the weeping eyes, 

And a heart at leisure from itself. 
To soothe and sympathize. 

A. L. Waring. 



We take, with solemn thankfulness, 
Our burden up, nor ask it less. 
But count it joy that even we 
May suffer, serve, or wait for Thee, 
Whose will be done. 

John G, Whittier, 
6 



82 HOSPITAL LEAVES AND LYRICS. 

Just as I Am. 

Just as I am, without one plea, 
But that Thy blood was shed for me. 
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee, 
O Lamb of God, I come. 

Just as I am, and waiting not 
To rid my soul of one dark blot, 
To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot, 
O Lamb of God, I come. 

Just as I am, though tossed about 
With many a conflict, many a doubt. 
My fears within and foes without, 
O Lamb of God, I come. 

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind ; 
Sight, riches, healing of the mind, 
Yea, all I need, in Thee to find, 
O Lamb of God, I come. 

Just as I am. Thou wilt receive. 
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve ; 
Because Thy promise I believe, 
O Lamb of God, I come. 

Just as I am. Thy love unknown, 
Has broken every barrier down ; 
Now to be Thine, yea. Thine alone, 
O Lamb of God, I come. 

Charlotte Elliott. 

Hospital Lyrics. 



MESSAGES OF COMFORT. 



83 



Sweetly Sing the Love of Jesus! 

Sweetly sing the love of Jesus ! 

Love for you, and love for me ; 
Heaven's light is not more cheering, 

Heaven's dews are not more free. 

As a child in pain or terror, 

Hides him in his mother's breast. 

As a sailor seeks the haven, 

We would come to Him for rest. 

Gladly sing the love of Jesus ! 

Let us lean upon His arm ; 
If He loves us, what can grieve us } 

If He keeps us, what can harm ? 

Still He lays His hand in blessing 

On each timid little face, 
And in heaven the children's angels 

Near the throne have always place. 

Death's cold wave need not affright us. 
When we know that he has died ; 

When we see the face of Jesus, 
Smiling on the other side ! 

Virginia Terhune. 

Selected by C. G. Mc Culloch. 



God, even our Father, which hath loved us, 
And given us everlasting consolation and 

hope. 
Comfort your hearts and stablish you 
In every good word and work. — Bible. 

Selected by C. G. McCulloch. 



84 HOSPITAL LEA VES AND L YRICS. 

A Dreary Place. 

A dreary place would be this earth 
Were there no little people in it : 

The song of life would lose it mirth 
Were tliirr'* »•"* -Vildren in it. 

No little forms, like buds to grow 

And make the admiring heart surrender ; 

No little hands on breast or brow, 

To keep the thrilling love-chords tender. 

No babe within our arms to leap. 

No little feet toward slumber tending ; 
No little knee in prayer to bend, 

Our lips the sweet words lending. 

* * * * * -Sf * 

The sterner souls would get more stern, 

Unfeeling natures more inhuman, 
And man to stoic coldness turn 

And woman would be less than woman. 

For in that clime toward which we reach, 
Through time's mysterious dim unfolding. 

The little ones with cherub smile 

Are still our Father's face beholding-. 

So said His voice in whom we trust, 
When in Judea's realm a preacher, 

He made a child confound the proud, 
And be in simple guise their teacher. 

From Dr. F. A. Noble's Sermon. 



messages of comfort. 85 

At Even, Ere the Sun was Set. 

At evening-, ere the sun was set, 

The sick, O Lord, around Thee lay ; 

O, in what divers pains they met, 
O, with what joy they went away. 

Once more 'tis eventide, and we, 

Oppressed with various ills, draw near ; 

What if Thy form we cannot see ? 

We know and feel that Thou art here. 

O Saviour, Christ, our woes dispel ; 

For some are sick, and some are sad ; 
And some have never loved Thee well. 

And some have lost the love they had. 

And none, O Lord, have perfect rest. 
For none are wholly free from sin ; 

And they who fain would serve Thee best. 
Are conscious most of wrong within. 

O Saviour, Christ, Thou too art man ; 

Thou hastbeen troubled, tempted, tried ; 
Thy kind but searching glance can scan 

The very wounds that shame would hide. 
Henry Twells. 

Hospital Lyrics. 



We must plan for time, but prepare for 
eternity. 

Hannah More. 



86 HOSPITAL LEAVES AND LYRICS. 

Is IT NOT Wonderful ? 

Do you really think it wonderful 

That He leads us on our way ? 
That we see His hand directing us 

In the dealings of the day ? 
Oh, it seems to me so like the Lord, 

To be near us hour by hour ; 
For His love delights in blessing us 

Whene'er He has the power. 

Do you really think it wonderful 

That He pardons all who cry. 
When He says He waits to welcome us 

With a song for every sigh ? 
When we know His heart of tenderness 

When we know the joy He feels, 
When His lips can say, '' I pardon Thee,'' 

When His hand that pardon seals ? 

Do you really think it wonderful 

That the Faithful One should do 
The wondrous things, the many things, 

That He has promised to ? 
'T is wonderful what He promises ! 

'T is wonderful what He says ! 
But I cannot think it wonderful 

When His promised word He pays. 
Herald of Mercy. 



Only the new days are our own ; 
To-day is ours, and to-day alone. 

Susan Coolidge. 



messages of comfort. 87 

Alone with my Conscience. 

I was sitting alone with my conscience, 

In a place where time had ceased, 
And we talked of my former living 

In the lands where the years increased ; 
And I felt I should have to answer 

The question it put to me, 
And to face the answer and question 

Throughout an eternity. 
The ghosts of forgotten actions 

Came floating before my sight, 
And things that I thought were dead things 

Were alive with a terrible might ; 
And the vision of all my past life 

Was an awful thing to face. . . . 
And I thought of a far-away warning 

Of a sorrow that was to be mine, 
In a land that was then the future. 

But now is the present time. . . . 
Then I felt that the future was present, 

And the present would never go by, 
For it was but the thought of my past life 

Grown into eternity. 
Then I woke from my timely dreaming 

And the vision passed away. 
And I knew the far-away warning 

Was a warning of yesterday ; 
And I pray that I may not forget it, 

In this land before the grave. 
That I may not cry in the future. 

And no one come to save. 

Hospital Lyrics. 



88 HOSPITAL LEAVES AND LYRICS. 



When Gathering Clouds. 

When gathering clouds around I view, 
And days are dark, and friends are few. 
On Him I lean, who not in vain 
Experienced every human pain : 
He sees my wants, allays my fears. 
And counts and treasures up my tears. 

If aught should tempt my soul to stray 

From heavenly wisdom's narrow way, 

To fly the good I would pursue, 

Or do the sin I would not do ; 

Still, He who felt temptation's power. 

Shall guard me in that dangerous hour. 

When, sorrowing, o'er some stone I bend, 
Which covers what was once a friend, 
And from his voice, his hand, his smile, 
Divides me, for a little while, 
Thou Saviour, markest the tears I shed. 
For Thou didst weep o'er Lazarus dead. 

And, O, when I have safely past 
Through every conflict but the last, 
Still, still unchanging watch beside 
My painful bed, — for Thou hast died : 
Then point to realms of cloudless day, 
And wipe the latest tear away. 

Robert Granf. 

Selected by Mrs. A. C. Nevins. 



MESSAGES OF COMFORT. §9 



The Tone of Voice. 

It is not so much what you say, 

As the manner in which you say it ; 

It is not so much the language you use, 
As the tones in which you convey it. 

" Come here ! " I sharply said, 

And the baby cowered and wept ; 

"Come here!" I cooed, and he looked and 
smiled, 
And straight to my lap he crept. 

The words may be mild and fair, 

And the tones may pierce like a dart ; 

The words may be soft as the summer air. 
And the tones may break the heart. 

For words but come from the mind, 

And grow by study and art ; 
But the tones leap forth from the inner self. 

And reveal the state of the heart. 

Whether you know it or not — 

Whether you mean or care — 
Gentleness, kindness, love, and hate, 

Envy and anger are there. 

Then would you quarrels avoid, 

And in peace and love rejoice. 
Keep anger not only out of your words, 

But keep it out of your voice. 

Youth's Companion, 



90 HOSPITAL LEAVES AND LYRTCS. 

A Little Bird I Am. 

A little bird I am, 

Shut from the fields of air ; 
And in my cage I sit and sing 

To Him who placed me there ; 
Well pleased a prisoner to be, 
Because, my God, it pleases Thee. 

Naught else have I to do ; 

I sing the whole day long ; 
And He whom most I love to please, 

Doth listen to my song ; 
He caught and bound my wandering 

wing. 
But still he bends to hear me sing. 

My cage confines me round ; 

Abroad I cannot fly ; 
But though my wing is closely bound. 

My heart's at liberty. 
My prison-walls cannot control 
The flight, the freedom of my soul. 

O, it is good to soar, 

These bolts and bars above, 

To Him whose purpose I adore. 
Whose providence I love ; 

And in thy mighty will to find 

The joy, the freedom of the mind. 

Madame Giiyon. 

Selected by Mrs. S. B. Johnson. 



messages of comfort. 91 

Come, my Soul. 

Come, my soul, thou must be waking, 

Now is breaking 
O'er the earth another day : 
Come, to Him who made the splendor. 

See thou render 
All thy feeble strength can pay. 

Gladly hail the sun returning ; 

Ready burning 
Be the incense of thy powers : 
For the night is safely ended ; 

God hath tended 
With his care thy helpless hours. 

Think that He thy ways beholdeth, 

He unfoldeth 
Every fault that lurks within : 
He the shame glossed over 

Can discover, 
And discern each deed of sin. 

Mayest thou, on life's last morrow, 

Free from sorrow, 
Pass away in slumber sweet : 
And relieved from death's dark sadness, 

Rise in gladness 
That far brighter sun to meet. 

Ballon von Careitz. 

Selected hy Mrs. C. IV. Earle. 



92 hospital leaves and lyrics. 

Still, Still with Thee. 

Still, still with Thee, when purple morning 
breaketh, 
When the bird waketh, and the shadows 
flee ; 
Fairer than morning, lovelier than the day- 
light. 
Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am 
with Thee. 

Alone with Thee, amid the mystic shadows. 
The solemn trust of nature, newly born ; 

Alone with Thee, in breathless adoration. 
In the calm dew and freshness of the morn. 

When sinks the soul, subdued by toil to 
slumber. 
Its closing eye looks up to Thee in prayer, 
Sweet the repose, beneath Thy wings o'er- 
shadowing. 
But, sweeter still, to wake and find Thee 
there. 

So shall it be at last in that bright morning. 
When the soul waketh, and the shadows 
flee; 
O that in that hour, and fairer than day's 
dawning. 
Shall rise the glorious thought, I am 
with Thee. 

Harriet Beecher Stow^, 



MESSAGES OF COMFORT. 93 



Isobel's Child. 

Dear Lord, dear Lord ! 
Thou who didst not erst deny 
The mother joy to Mary mild ; 
Blessed in the blessed Child. . . . 
Oh ! take not, Lord, my babe away. . . . 
Think, God, among the cherubim, 
How I shall shiver every day 
In Thy June sunshine, knowing where 
The grave-grass keeps it from his fair 
Still cheeks ! and feel, at any tread. 
His little body which is dead, 
And hidden in the turfy fold. 
Doth make Thy whole warm earth a-cold ! 

God, I am so young — so young — 

1 am not used to tears at nights 
Instead of slumber, — not to prayer — 
With sobbing lips, and hands outwrung ! 
Thou knowest all my prayers were, 

"I bless Thee, God, for past delights — 
Thank God ! " I am not used to bear 
Hard thoughts of death. . . . 
I changed the cruel prayer I made. 
And bowed my meekened head and 

prayed 
That God would do His will ! and thus 
He did it !— friends. He parted us ; 

. . . And I am calm ; 
And heaven is barkening a new psalm. 

Mrs. E. B. Browning. 

Hospital Lyrics. 



94 hospital lea ves and l yrics. 

"The Penny Ye Meant to Gi'e." 
There's a funny tale of a stingy man, 

Who was none too good, but might have 
been worse. 
Who went to his church on Sunday night, 

And carried along his well-filled purse. 

When the sexton came with his begging 

plate, 

.******** * If 

The stingy man fumbled all thro' his purse, 
And chose a coin by touch and not sight. 

It's an odd thing now that guineas should be 
So like unto pennies in shape and size. 
"I'll give a penny," the stingy man said, 
" The poor must not gifts of pennies de- 
spise." 

Ha ! ha ! how the sexton smiled, to be sure. 
To see the gold guinea fall into his plate ! 

Ha ! ha ! how the stingy man's heart was 
wrung, 
Perceiving his blunder, but just too late ! 

" No matter," he said, " in the Lord's amount 

That guinea of gold is set down to me." 
* * * * * •» ** * * 

" Na, na, mon," the chuckling sexton cried, 

" The Lord is na cheated — He kens thee 

well, 

He knew it was only by accident 

That out o' thy fingers the guinea fell ! " 

H. 77., in St. Nicholas. 

Selected by Rev. G. V. Blake. 



messages of comfort. 95 

When on my Day of Life the Night 
IS Falling. 

When on my day of life the night is falling, 
And in the winds, from unsunned spaces 
blown, 

I hear far voices, out of darkness calling 
My feet to paths unknown, 

Thou, who hast made my home of life so 
pleasant. 
Leave not its tenant when its walls decay ; 

love Divine, O Helper, ever present. 
Be thou my strength and stay ! 

Be near me when all else is from me drifting, 
Earth, sky, home's picture, day of shade 
and shine. 

And kindly faces to my own, uplifting 
The love which answers mine. 

1 have but Thee, O Father ! Let Thy Spirit 
Be with me, then, to comfort and uphold ; 

No gate of pearl, no branch of palm, I merit, 
Nor street of shining gold. 

Suffice it if, my good and ill unreckoned. 
And both forgiven, through Thy abounding 
grace, 
I find myself by hands familiar, beckoned 
Unto my fitting place. 

John G. Whit tier. 

Selected by C. G. Mc Culloch . 



96 hospital leaves and lyrics. 

The Closing Benediction. 

The peace which God bestows, 

Through Him who died and rose, 
The peace the Father giveth through the Son, 

Be known in every mind. 

The broken heart to bind. 
And bless each traveler as he journeys on. 

Ye who have known to weep, 

Where your beloved sleep. 
Ye who have raised the deep, the bitter cry, 

God's blessing be as balm, 

The fevered soul to calm. 
And wondrouspeace the troubled mind supply. 



Parents, whose thoughts afar. 

Turn where your children are. 
In their still graves, or beneath foreign skies. 

This hour, God's blessing come, 

Cheer the deserted home, 
And peace, with dove-like wings, around you 
rise. 

Ere this week's strife begin. 

The war without, within. 
The God of love, with spirit and with power, 

Now on each bended head. 

His wondrous blessing shed. 
And keep you all through every troubled 
hour. Amen, 




t,. . 




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